Solace in You
by Cmdr. Gabe E
Summary: A young man with a tortured past helps Logan and the XMen escape from Alkali Lake. He claims to be Stryker's son and is taken back to the mansion, where he falls for Kitty Pryde. He finds solace in her, until he discovers who and what he truly is.
1. The boy from the underground base

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men…maybe I own the new character, but that's that x.x.

Solace in You

A young man with a tortured past helps Logan and the X-Men escape from the underground base of Alkali Lake. He claims to be Stryker's son and is taken back to the mansion, where he falls for Kitty Pryde. He finds solace in her, until he discovers who and what he truly is. Post-X2, pre-X3. Kitty/OC...Possibly a hint of Rogue/OC

Note: I initially released the first two chapters of this story years ago x.x. Thinking of taking it into a new direction and finally continuing it, here it is, edited and updated to match what I have in mind for it this time around ;)!

Chapter 1: The Boy from the Underground Base

The underground base rumbled as the merciless water rushed fast and hard into the spillway. The rushing water from the lake, with the speed and force of its unleashed nature, completely overtook the entrance that Mystique had taken when she had first infiltrated the underground fortress.

Jean, Cyclops, Charles, Storm, Nightcrawler, and the children they had saved, quickened their paces as they felt the impending doom of the structure. If they weren't fast enough, they knew they were going to be submerged together with the mechanical labyrinth.

The only way out was through the entrance. That was where they had also agreed to reunite with their comrade, Wolverine, whom Jean hoped and prayed was as safe as when they had first infiltrated the place. And soon enough, her hopes and prayers were justified when she saw him running towards them from another corridor.

Their eyes met but no words were spoken. Perhaps that was enough to assure each other that everything was going to be alright, and that they were both glad to see them both safe and sound. Oh how Logan wanted to hold her, touch her, tell her he was so glad to see her again after going through something that had almost cost him his life. But by looking at the way Jean had held onto Scott, told him that she will always love Scott, and that she had chosen him. Whoever said good guys finish last? They always get the girl.

Wolverine's eyes suddenly widened as he felt the water rushing closer and closer to where they had gathered. And with his wolf-life instincts, he wasted no time and punctured the control panel that kept the huge, gigantic door open. The control panel sparked and sputtered at the contact with Wolverine's claws, and the gigantic metal door immediately closed shut, sealing them all inside the center of the base.

The children's eyes were filled with fear as the felt trapped and hopeless. Were they going to die here? Why did Wolverine close their only way out?

"You don't wanna go that way." He said assuring. "Trust me." He added, after seeing the faces of those children whose lives were still on the line.

He wanted them to trust him. He wanted them to know that it was going to be alright. But will those two words he had just said, really give them their freedom? Did he really know the way out? How long before they all end up in a watery grave?

"I know the way." He said firmly. His eyes immediately sureveyed the area, trying to use his wolf-like senses and his blurred memories of the place to find the best way out of there without drowning. "We're all gonna get out of here alive!" He shouted for everyone to hear. If only he could remember all the paths and corridors he had once taken when he roamed this place as the person he was before. He knew there was a way out. He knew it. He just couldn't remember, couldn't decipher.

Then his eyes focused on one of the hallways. There were three corridors before them, leading to God knows where, but that was where his instincts was pointing him.

"Over there! Come with me!" He shouted. He quickly ran towards his chosen corridor with the others quickly and running behind him. This had to be the way out. It had to be…Because if he chose wrong, he knew he was going to cost them all their lives.

Before Logan could make his way into the corridor, a voice, a voice that sounded like that of a young man who could barely speak, echoed in the area.

"That's not the way out!" The voice shouted. The voice was loud, yet shivering, as if it had used all its energy to speak and form words. It sounded like the voice of a male person who was on the verge of freezing to death.

All heads turned at the sound of the voice, and they found a young man. He looked weak and frail. He was standing in the corridor on the other side of the huge room. His moderately tall and fit frame leaned helplessly against the wall of the corridor. He was all wet and cold, and his lips shivered with each every word. He seemed young, probably in his late teens. He had dark blue eyes that were dulled by his pale skin, and dark brown, feathery hair that clung carelessly against his wet forehead. He wore nothing but a pair of white shorts, and his body was covered with bruises and sores, making him appear as if he had been beaten and punctured with needles for the past few days. It was a sight that would make a mother cry.

"I said, that's not the way out!" He added. He pushed himself off the wall and motioned his shaking hand towards them. "This way! I know the way out!" He waved his hand again, enticing them to come and follow him.

Jean couldn't help but feel pity at the sight before her. What was that boy doing here? Who was he? Just by looking at him, she could see and feel that he had been through so much pain --- his entire life. "Who are you?" Jean finally asked.

"I don't trust him, Jean." Logan immediately said, his voice deep and gruff, filled with doubt and indifference. "For all we know he may be working with Stryker." There was just something about that boy he didn't like. Something about him that was too vaguely familiar for his taste. He would rather trust his instincts than put their life on the hands of that familiar stranger.

"You have to trust me!" The young man pleaded. "You have to or you're all going to die in here!" He shouted. He took a step closer to them and almost fell when he placed his full weight on his foot. "Please…You have to! It's the only way! No one deserves to be trapped in here! Maybe I do, but you don't!"

The persistence of the boy and his unwavering truthfulness even surprised the still-weakened Charles Xavier. Though his mind was still foggy from his encounter with Jason and Dark Cerebro, he could feel no malice coming from their newfound friend.

Charles looked at Logan and focused his eyes on his doubtful pupil. "You have to trust him, Logan. We have to trust him. I believe him." His voice never wavered. He had no doubts that the boy wasn't going to bring them any harm.

Logan looked back at the boy and breathed in. "You better not be fooling with us, or I'll make you pay!" He said through gritted teeth.

"Why!" The boy suddenly asked, his voice suddenly filled with force. "You think you can save them, Wolverine?" Then he stretched his arm and pointed towards the corridor that Wolverine and the others were about to enter. His arm shook as he did, for he could barely keep it up. "You see that corridor that you're about to lead them in? That leads deeper into the research facilities. Once the water rushes in, you'll have no choice but to drown in it." His arm fell to his side and he stumbled backwards, back against the wall.

Logan's eyes widened at what the boy had just said. He quickly looked down at the corridor and suddenly had a vague flashback of where it led. The boy was right. The corridor was going to lead them deeper into Stryker's research facilities, where they would eventually be trapped under the incoming water.

He looked at the others and knew that the decision was now wholly in his hands. He was the only one who was supposed to know the way out, and now, they had another choice. He turned his head again to stare at the weakening boy, and gritted his teeth. He couldn't believe that he was about to put that stranger's word over his.

"Let's follow him!" He said firmly, almost commandingly. "Let's go!" He shouted.

He could already see the water seeping through the cracks of the gigantic door, and he knew all too well that it was going to give way soon. It's either they run now, or stop running for the rest of their lives.

So Logan and the others quickly ran to the corridor where the young man stood. The young man, on the other hand, looked weak and drained as the others ran past by him. His back leaned against the wall and so did his head that he could barely keep upright. He looked like he was going to collapse soon. In fact, if it weren't for his healthy-looking physique, he would have already looked near dead.

"Go straight there. Keep going until you reach a door at the dead end." He said weakly. His lips continued to shiver and his voice continued to choke in his own throat. "That will lead you outside, where the sun shines."

Jean gave him a gracious half-smile and nodded as she walked quickly pass-by him. She would have loved to thank him for all his help, but they didn't have the time. Perhaps she could do it later. The others, Charles, Nightcrawler, Cyclops and Storm felt the same way too and just offered the young man hastened gestures of gratitude as they ran pass him.

Logan ran last. He followed the others, helping the younger mutants who couldn't run and move any longer. Most of the children could still feel the effects of Stryker's Dark Cerebro and found themselves weakened from it.

When the last of the children ran through the corridor along with the other X-Men, Logan let himself get left behind. He walked towards the weakened, pale, young man and looked at him. The young man's face was turned towards the direction the others ran to. His blue eyes looked hopeful as if he wanted to run with them. A half-baked smile spread across his colorless lips as he watched the other run to their freedom. His naked chest shivered up and down as he tried to breathe normally.

"Aren't you coming with us?" Logan finally asked. "This room and this corridor's about to be flooded. You're going to die in here if you don't move now! You know that, kid!"

"I know." The young man whispered. A small smile arched up the corner of his lips, the first true sign of a smile he had ever made with them. Then he turned his head to face Logan, looking deep into Logan's brown eyes. "Don't you see? This is where I belong. I am destined to stay here as I had been my entire life. This is where I will find my end."

x x x x x x x x

To be continued :D!

Please do review :D! thanks :D!


	2. No one should be left behind

Chapter 2: No one should be left behind

"What are you talking about?" Logan hissed. He brought his face closer to the young man's, trying to get some real answers from him. "No one deserves to die here! How can you talk like that after saving their lives?"

The young man's face was emotionless. "Because saving another's life doesn't mean that I have to save my own. Not everything in life is quid pro quo, Wolverine. After all, with the state I'm in, I doubt that I'll live. I'm dying, you see. I was fated to die from the moment he brought me into this world."

"Stryker! Did Stryker do this to you!" Logan shouted, feeling more hatred for his "former" comrade than he ever thought possible. Noticing the small wounds on the boy's body, probably caused by repeated injections and electrocution - made Wolverine bleed inside. He couldn't just let this boy die here. He had to change this young man's fate. He, of all people, did not deserve to die in the way that he wanted to.

The young man remained silent. He just smiled and used all his remaining energy to move away from Wolverine. "You understand nothing." He said, as he slowly walked backwards towards the room. The room was slowly filling with icy water from the lake that surrounded them. "You don't know what I've been through." He continued. "You don't know what I'm about to become!" He shouted, his voice echoing around them.

Logan gritted his teeth and marched towards the boy. This kid was tougher and more stubborn than he thought. Kind of reminded him of himself actually. "Look, kid, whatever you've been through, I understand more than you'll ever know!" He shouted back. If he didn't get that kid out of there soon, they will both drown.

"Just go, Wolverine! Leave me be!" He shouted louder, causing veins to protrude from his neck and the upper part of his body. And as he shouted, the water that rose towards his knees rumbled in an unnatural, almost artificial fashion.

Wolverine didn't notice that of course. He was more concerned about the boy's safety. "I have no time for this, kid! It's either we don't go, or we go now! And I say, WE GO NOW!" And with that, he ran towards the boy with the speed of a hungry wolf and landed a solid, yet non-lethal punch against the boy's skull.

The young man's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell forward against Logan. Logan quickly carried the boy in his arms and ran as fast as he could towards the exit.

x x x x x x x x x x

"Where's Logan!" Asked Jean. "We can't leave without him!"

Even Scott was worried about Wolverine. Though they weren't the best of friends and have fought for the love of the same woman, he too couldn't leave him behind. He couldn't bare the thought of escaping the place while Wolverine died in it.

"I believe he stayed behind to get the boy." Nightcrawler replied.

"Logan knows what he's doing." Added Storm. "He'll be here. He won't let us down."

Charles' eyes widened and his head perked up. "He's here." He said firmly.

The snow-covered door that they had just exited earlier suddenly flew open as Logan ran towards them. In his strong hands he carried the unconscious boy who had just saved all their lives, the boy who they all practically owed their life to now.

Jean quickly came to their aid. "Is he alright? What happened?"

"The boy was stubborn. I had to knock him into his senses." He replied.

Jean looked at him, almost knowing what he had meant by that.

"We have to get out of here." Storm said, interrupting Jean and Logan's untimely reunion. "The dam is about to break soon. If don't get out of here, we're as good as dead as if we had never escaped the underground base."

Logan and Jean nodded in unison. And as if some kind of miracle, the trees around them whipped with the wind as the Blackbird made its way over the hill and hovered above them, coming to their rescue. A shaking and nervous Rogue was in control, and she landed it with a soft thud before them on the snow. Its sight gave everyone hope that they would escape this place before it brought them their watery grave.

Nightcrawler was immediately tasked to teleport the professor into the blackbird, to bring him into the safer confines of their jet. The professor was weak, his mind was still raw from the mental beating he had taken, and without his chair, he was weaker and more vulnerable than he had ever been.

Bobby assisted Rogue in lowering the entrance to the jet and the others quickly made their way to it. They didn't have much time to lose. Their escape from Stryker's base was definitely not the last obstacle they had to survive today. The collapsing dam was definitely another matter, a matter that was out of their mutant powers' current state.

Logan again was left behind, carrying the unconscious boy in his arms. He stood there on the snow, catching a glimpse of a chained and helpless Stryker in the distance. Perhaps now was the right time to put his past's demons to rest. He would confront him, and hopefully, see his old face and hear that damned voice for the last time. He didn't need his past. He was ready to let it go by closing opened wounds. He was ready to let it wash away as the water was about to wash the remnants of his past away.

"Logan, let's go!" Shouted Scott. He motioned at Logan to hurry up.

Logan quickly walked towards Scott and handed him the boy. "Take care of him. Make sure he's taken cared of. I'll be back in a minute. I just need to settle some old debts with an old friend." So he marched away to confront Stryker.

x x x x x x x

And so he did. Logan had finally put his past behind. He threw his godforsaken dogtags on the snowy ground and knew that that was the last time he was ever going to see them. No more past. No more Alkali Lake. No more memories. No more Stryker.

"One day, someone will finish what I started, Wolverine! One day!" Stryker shouted at the top of his lungs.

He couldn't believe that that animal, that animal, who had once been his comrade, had forsaken him for those mutant fools. How dare he? How dare that James Howlett leave him there to die! But Stryker will not take death with fear. He would face it with honor, with dignity. He was a soldier and he would die as one. He would sink with his base, as a captain would sink with one's ship. If this be his fate, so be it.

"So be it." Said a familiar voice.

Stryker's eyes widened with shock as he saw the boy, HIS boy, standing before him. It was the boy who had saved Wolverine and the others earlier. "I hate you, father." The boy's eyes were filled with so much enmity and hatred as they looked at the chained man. "I hate you for the reason you had brought me here and for what you had destined me to become. This is your fate and I have mine. Mine is with them." The young man nudged his head towards the direction Logan had walked to. "And I will not let you stop that! Never! You will never get in the way of who I want to be!" He said, loud enough to make his voice echo in his father's mind.

The older man just chuckled at the younger man's words. "Someday, someone will finish what I started, my son." He whispered with a hint of mockery. "Someday…someone will...And you shall be there to see it all come into play...You..."

"Enough." The boy whispered through gritted teeth. He would not hear him anymore. He hated his father and his lies. He clenched his fists, and Stryker's head suddenly flew backwards against the concrete slab that pressed against his back. His stone cold blue eyes opened wide with lifelessness. And in that split second, his heart stopped beating. Just like that, he was dead. Dead and gone.

The young man looked at the dead body of his father, lifeless and chained against the giant-sized tombstone. And as he looked at him, he whispered. "I don't ever want to see you again. I don't want you back." Then he walked away.

Each and every step felt labored and heavy as he trudged back to the humungous jet where his newfound friends had retreated to. He refused to look back and see the dead body he had left behind. What happened between him and his father was now put to rest. Whatever pain Stryker had brought him, he wanted to leave behind. Let bygones be bygones. Let sorrowful memories fade away like forgotten nightmares. For all he knew, he had given his father one last gift…A quick and painless death.

He suddenly felt his chest tightened as his muscles and internal organs spasm in pain. What he had just done to Stryker had taken a lot out of his already battered body. If he had done something more drastic, he would have died together with him. He just hoped that his remaining strength would take him as close to the jet as possible.

His knees weakened and his joints ached. His body begged him to just give up and fall on the snow. But his mind said otherwise. His mind and his will were driving him to go on, to continue. He was finally free, free from the darkness and the pain that had bound him his entire life. And now that he had this freedom, this peace, he was not going to let it go. Not now. Not ever. He was going to survive and bask in it.

Then his blurry vision caught sight of a man in the distance. It was Wolverine. Looked like he too was making his way back to the jet. The young man cluched his chest and shouted out. "Wolverine! Help!" He bellowed. He couldn't keep himself on his feet any longer. He needed someone to help him carry his weight.


	3. Kitty Pryde for the first time

Chapter 3: Kitty Pryde for the first time

It was cold. And dark. He could feel the chilling metal pressed against his skin as he lay there on the steel table like a dead 'thing' ready to be studied and dissected and prodded as if he were an inanimate object. How could his father do this to him? How could he?

The young man slowly opened his eyes, and once again found himself squinting in discomfort at the blinding light that hovered above him. It was the only light in the room. And even that light had no warmth. Warmth --- It was almost a non-existent sensation to him.

He could hear them moving now...They were once again preparing themselves for today's 'activities'. They surrounded him...His father and his father's cohorts, his soldiers and scientists. There they were again, like they've been ever since he could start remembering...Talking about their sciences and their math and their equations and their biological theories...And all of them were directed at him --- the science experiment...The 'son' that never truly was.

When would it ever end? Would this ever stop? He once heard them talk about his brother. They called him Mutant 143. How come he had never met him? Why had they never been introduced? Was his brother older than him? More so, how old was he? He didn't even know his birthday.

The smell of chemicals mixed in the air and entered his nostrils. Oh how he hated that smell. That smell always meant the pain was coming. It meant that they were about to begin hurting him again. Pain had almost become second nature to him. Primarily because he had no choice.

He glanced sideways and saw one of the 'doctors' pull out a syringe. It was one of the big ones.

He hated needles. But he had to endure them everyday.

He suddenly felt his father's hand on his forearm. Like the room, his father's touch was cold --- uncaring, almost as if it was death itself. Didn't his father love him? Did he mean nothing to him?

Then he heard his voice...That deep, rough, chilling voice that he had almost equated to pain as much as the chemical stench in the air. "Do you think it would work this time, doctor?" Stryker asked.

"We'll see." Responded the doctor. He brought the syringe up and directed it at the young man on the steel table. "The last time we tried it, he convulsed. If it happens again this time I'm afraid we'll have to try a different solution, William."

"Hmm. Very well, then." Replied Stryker. "But this time, up the dosage. We all know the reason why he's here. We might as well see how much he can take."

In the dark, the young man could see the doctor looking rather distraught.

"If you say so." Replied the doctor in the shadows. "But I'm telling you, William, if things go wrong, I don't know if we could ever have another one. We are lucky enough to have him here with us for as long as we have. If things go wrong and he dies..."

Were they talking about him? What other one?

"He's not going to die!" Shouted Stryker.

He suddenly felt his father's grip tighten around his forearm.

"I know him more than any one of you do! You know that!" He said firmly.

Then he felt his father's hand slip away.

"Begin the test." Stryker said...His voice was cold and monotonous.

The boy wanted to speak his father's name...Call out to him. William...That was what the doctors called him...And that was how he got to learn his father's name ever since. As for himself...He was never given a name. Not even a number to call by. It was almost as if he never existed.

He saw his father disappear into the shadows. And the doctors moved in on him once again. They moved slowly, like predators, with syringes and other instruments in their hands. They were going to pierce and cut and mutilate him again...Get under his skin for the sake of 'science'.

He felt tears swelling up in his eyes. And they tricked down his cheeks. But no one seemed to matter. No one cared. Not even his father.

And now the pain...It came once again...The pain that would never end.

Though he could not speak...Deep inside, he screamed.

x x x x x x x x x x

It was a fact that no one could ever deny. Jean Grey was dead.

It was almost two weeks since she had left them, and yet it felt as if she was taken from them the day before each and every day, like 'yesterday' was always the day she died. The mansion had been quiet ever since...Almost as if some of its spirit had washed away with her in Alkali Lake.

Still, the inhabitants of the mansion were grateful that everything had been peaceful since the Stryker incident. And it was the peace that they needed. They needed time to reflect and recollect. To rebuild and gain everything that had been destroyed and lost.

It was the time for a new beginning, for them, and for someone who was about to join them.

x x x x x x x x x x

Kitty Pryde had spent the past few week wandering around the mansion, trying to help out as much as she could if it were possible. There would be days when she would assist Piotr, or just simply hang-out with the rest of the kids. At times she would be with Ororo, studying, or with Bobby and Rogue in the front yard, playing games and other silly things...Anything to past the time and move on.

But today, she decided to tour the infirmary alone, hoping to find something 'interesting'.

Everything was quiet. Everything was as it was...Until she heard someone scream.

Her head perked up and her eyes shot wide open. She quickly looked around, hoping to find the source of the voice. She could feel her heart beating in her chest now. Was someone there? Either way, she swore she heard it come from one of the rooms. It was odd though. She was sure all of the recovery rooms were empty. And she hadn't heard news of anyone being brought there recently.

Still, she wasted no time. She trusted her instincts and went through wall after wall to look for the person who screamed. Until she found him.

She soon found herself phasing into a room with a boy in it...No...He wasn't a boy...He was a young man – give or take a year or two older than her.

He was on the bed, trembling and shivering as if he was laying on a sheet of ice. His eyes were wide open but he could not seem to see her. He was staring straight at the ceiling, dark blue eyes filled with fear, as if was staring at hell itself. She could see him bearing his teeth as he ground them against each other. His skin was pale, and his lips were of faint red. His dark brown hair clung to his forehead as he sweat profusely. His hands were balled into tight fists while he continued to convulse. And she could see his bare chest quickly rise and fall as short quick breaths escaped from his gritted teeth.

He looked sick, and in pain...Almost as if he was going through some kind of torture she could not see.

Kitty gasped at the sight of him, and felt a pierce in her heart at the view of his suffering. "Oh god..." She whispered to herself.

She immediately phased out of the room in search for Ororo. She was the first thing she had in mind. She knew she could help him. In less than a few seconds, she found her with the professor in the den, and immediately informed them of the boy she had found.

Ororo rushed to the infirmary, and Kitty quickly phased her way back into the boy's room, reaching it before Ororo. And there was the boy, still locked and bound within his own mental state of torture.

If only she had the ability to ease his suffering. If only she knew what to do. So she quietly approached him, until she found herself standing right beside his bed. Could he really not see her?

"Hello?" She softly asked. She felt stupid...But it was better than nothing. She couldn't just stand there and stare at his suffering while she was waiting for Ororo.

Then she swallowed in nervousness, and gently placed her hand on his forearm. Perhaps if she let him know she was there...

As soon as her skin came in contact with his, the boy's other hand suddenly gripped hers, pressing it hard against his arm. It almost hurt, the way he was gripping her hand. Then he rigidly sat up and stared at her, eyes swelling with tears, lips shivering in fear.

"Save me." He whispered. He continued to grip her hand...Not letting it go. "Help me!" He shouted. "Help me! Save me from him! I can't take it anymore!" He shouted again, louder this time, in a way that was forceful and commanding, just like his father's...Too much like his father's.

Kitty just stood there, staring back at him in shock. She looked like she had lost the ability to speak, or move, or breathe. She was scared. Scared of him...Scared of what was happening. What did he want from her? What did he want her to save him from? She tried to pull her hand away, but he wouldn't let her go. She could not even phase away from him? How was he doing it?

The door to the room slid open and Ororo saw what was happening. But before she could make a move, the boy saw her. He stared at her, and the intensity and fierceness in his eyes were suddenly gone, almost as if he had been snapped out of his rage. He blinked a few times, and stared back at Kitty, whose hand was still under his.

His dark blue eyes locked with hers, but he never said a word. He slowly moved his hand away, and blinked again. There was dizziness in his eyes now. He could barely keep his eyes open. He could not even keep himself up. He looked weak now. Weak, but not in pain. He softly exhaled, and looked at Kitty for the last time, until he collapsed on the bed again...Unconscious and still as a rock.

x x x x x x x x x

To be continued...


	4. Trust me

For the fun of it, I made a mini-poster/avatar for this fanfic !

http // www. gabe-e. com / pics / solaceinyou.jpg

Chapter 04: Trust me

Kitty Pryde sat still and silent beside the unconscious patient's bed. She had been sitting there, observing his immobile form for the past hour ever since he had blacked-out in the presence of Professor Xavier and Ororo. When she asked the Professor what they should do to help him, the professor said to let him rest. He said it was what the young man needed the most.

She breathed in and exhaled, and pulled her legs up into an indian-sitting position on the chair. She couldn't believe she was still there with him. She knew he didn't even know she was there. It was probably just a waste of time, accompanying someone who she does not even know and vice versa...And yet, she couldn't leave him.

Perhaps it was because of the way he had asked for her help...The way he begged for her to save him. But save him from what? Would she ever know? Or maybe, she doesn't want to leave --- because she feared that if he woke up, no one would be there for him.

/"Oh, Kitty! You and your heart of gold."/ She thought to herself and smiled. No wonder some of the younger students looked at her as their older sister. She always had a tendency to care for them --- Too much sometimes.

She pursed her lips and looked at his face. She remembered how horrified he looked when he held her arm...How teary-eyed he was when he asked for her help. Who knew what he had been through in Stryker's laboratory? How long had be been there?

Kitty immediately shook the thought away. That was the past. They had finally saved him. Now he was here, safe in their company...Free to dream of good things --- comforting things. The last thing he needed was more suffering.

She reached out and delicately brushed the hair off his forehead. She smiled as her skin came in contact with his. Maybe he would know that she was there --- That someone was actually caring for him for a change. She pulled her hand back to her side and sighed.

"Who are you?" She whispered, soft and gentle so as not to disturb his sleep.

Her eyebrows furrowed and a confused smile etched its way up her lips. She looked at the arm he had held before and looked at him again. "And how did you do what you did?" She would never forget the way he had held her in place. She couldn't 'phase out' of his grip.

"You really have to tell me about yourself when you wake up, you know." She said, smiling at him. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

Oh, how silly she felt --- talking to someone who could not even talk back, or hear her for that matter.

Kitty bit her lower lip and exhaled. Perhaps it was about time she left him alone to rest without her bugging him. She could visit him again later anyway. And if he did wake up, she knew Ororo would tell her at once.

She stood up, and was about to phase out of the room, when she saw his lips move ever so slightly she could have easily missed it. She gasped, and took a step back. Was he finally coming to?

"Hello?" She whispered, as she very slowly walked to the side of the bed.

The young man, with his eyes still closed, suddenly opened his mouth wide and took a deep shivering breath, causing his bare chest to rise and his head to pull back on the pillow. His pale hands balled into tight fists and his knuckles turned as white as snow.

At that moment, Kitty didn't know what to do. Should she phase to Ororo and inform her of what was happening? Or should she stay there and wait for whatever was about to come?

Then his body relaxed, and lay still on the bed, unmoving. His hands untwined and went back into their half open position. The tension in his body was gone, and he was once again silent and still.

After a few seconds, his dark blue eyes shot wide open, and his pupils contracted as the light from the room reached his eyes. He gave off a brief yelp, a cry of fear and discomfort as he quickly sat up on the bed, pulling off all the medical tubes that were connected to his wrists. His face and his eyes were filled with fear and nervousness as he looked around the room. His bare chest and his shoulders quivered and heaved with each and every quick breath. Sweat trickled down the sides of his face as he surveyed the strange area around him.

Kitty Pryde soon came into his sight, and he quickly scurried off the bed in fear of what she might do to him. He ground his teeth and backed into the corner of the room.

"Who are you?" He shouted. The veins on his neck protruded on his skin. "Where am I?" He asked again, louder this time. "What am I doing here? Is there going to be more pain? Are you going to kill me now? Are you with my father?"

Kitty wanted to cry at the sight of the boy before her. He looked as if 'pain' and 'suffering' had been the only things he had ever known. She nervously licked her dry lips and swallowed. She knew it wasn't her place to try and comfort him, but she couldn't just leave him now...Not now.

"It's going to be all right." She said softly. "I'm not going to hurt you. I promise."

He further backed away into the corner, trapping himself there. "Who are you? What is this place?" He kept his back pressed against the wall. He felt like an animal trapped in a cage. He felt the wall with his hands while looking at Kitty, hoping to claw his way out of it.

She took a step closer to him, moving as cautiously as she could. He was scared. He was afraid...Afraid of her and everything around him.

"My name is Kitty. Kitty Pryde." She spoke as she approached him. "You...What's your name?"

The frantic boy continued to claw at the walls. "Why am I here? WHY AM I HERE?" He shouted, ignoring Kitty's prior question.

Kitty noticed what he was doing. "Please stop that. You're going to hurt yourself."

He defensively pulled his hands to his chest and clenched them tight --- almost tight enough for his fingers to dig into the delicate skin of his palms. "Everyone wants to hurt me. They all want to hurt me! But it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter because I don't feel anything anymore! I'm numb, Kitty! Numb all over, from all the pain and the darkness and the cold and – and - I wanted to die! I wanted to die but they would not let me die! They would not even grant me death!" His words quivered as he shouted at her.

"No one's going to hurt you. Not anymore. You're safe now." She explained. She wanted to tell him that he was finally free from the pain he had endured. She wanted to show this battered soul that his suffering had finally ended.

She swallowed, and took another slow step towards him. "Everything's going to be fine. I promise. You can trust me."

She could feel her heart pounding in her chest now. But she remained calm. She didn't want to show him that she feared him. Yes. Kitty Pride feared the enslaved human before her. She wasn't even sure if he was a human or a mutant, but - there was something about him --- something about him that didn't feel right. And the fact that he could 'counter' her powers, was a fact she kept in mind.

The boy's breathing slowed down, a sign that he had calmed down a bit. His hands relaxed, but he kept himself in a defensive position. He focused his dark blue eyes on her, watching her every motion, observing her as a prey would its predator while he continued to press his back against the cold wall, waiting for Kitty's next move.

Should he really trust her? Did she truly mean it when she said she would never hurt him? Due to what he had been through, he had lost the ability to trust. To him, the world was against him. To him, the only person he could trust was himself. To him, life was filled with pain and nothing more.

"You asked for my name." He said softly.

Kitty smiled. "Yes. I did. But if you don't want to tell me, it's all right." She was now standing an arm's reach away from him. She could easily reach out to him if she could. But she would not do that now. Not yet while he was still in his defensive. She didn't want to scare him away.

The boy looked at the floor, to think perhaps, and then looked at her. "I don't have a name." He then realized that no one's ever asked for his name before, therefore he never thought it was important. For as long as he could remember, she was the first one.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "You don't have a name? Everyone has a name." She offered him a comforting smile. "You must have one. Your father and your mother must have called you by, well, something..."

He grimaced. "Never speak of my father!" He suddenly shouted. The blue fire in his eyes were back and he gritted his teeth in anger. "William Stryker..." He whispered. "I hate him! I hate him! He called me his 'experiment'! I was an experiment to him, Kitty!" He spat out the words with so much enmity. "He gave me no name! He said I was his masterpiece, his work of art, but he could not even give me a name! How could he when he couldn't even love me?" He punched the wall adjacent to him with the side of his fist.

William Stryker. William Stryker was his father? No wonder the pain in his eyes were too much to bear. To have a father do that to his son...The thought alone was unbearable. No wonder he hated him with a passion. And she couldn't blame him. How could she after everything he's been through in Stryker's hands? Moreso, how could Stryker hate mutants so much to lobotomize both his sons for his cause? Did he have no heart?

"Please..." Kitty pleaded. "Calm down...Please..." Now she wished she had called Ororo the moment he woke up. He was too unstable for her, too unpredictable. What if he was more dangerous than he seemed?

The young man stared at her silently. No one has ever pleaded to him before. He was always the one who pleaded --- Pleaded for sanctuary, pleaded for mercy, pleaded for death. But pleading meant nothing to him anymore. All of his pleading and begging resulted to nothing.

"I don't trust you." He said. "I don't trust this place. This is all just a trick! It is, isn't it? It's not real. I'm still trapped. And you, you're not who you say you are! This is all a part of father's experiment!"

"It's not! Believe me!" Kitty answered. "It's real. All of it. You're safe now, here, at Professor Xavier's school for gifted youngsters. No one's going to hurt you anymore. Don't you remember? You helped Logan and the others escape from Stryker's underground base. You saved them. You helped them live. And in return, they saved you. You're safe now, with us."

He pursed his lips and continued to stare at her. He slowly breathed in and exhaled. He tried to remember...And he did. He remembered leading the others to safety. He remembered escaping with them. Most of all, he remembered killing the man he hated the most. Perhaps she was right. Maybe he was finally free. And wherever he was now, it was better than the hellhole he had spent his life in.

x x x x x x x x

T B C :)


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